Trials and Tribulations

I sure wish I had some colorful images to show you, but I will tomorrow when my Ironstone Book comes out of the rubber bands and (I think) is totally finished. Right now the glue is drying and I'm trying to keep it stable. My vice won't go around the darn thing, so rubberbands it is. I have spent days and days photographing and photoshopping every piece of Ironstone I own, then printing them all onto good paper to make a book. I can't believe how many days- and I mean FULL days have been spent at this computer for this project---yet it's so small and insignificant in the big picture. The cool thing is I learned so much, mostly how not to do it, how to coddle my printer, and that it doesn't matter if I didn't have waxed linen threads to hold it all together. Oh it probably DOES matter but not to me. Stay tuned. Now for the badder news:

The other day I got a notice from Paypal that I had just paid $900 for a computer on eBay. I hadn't done this, so I contacted them on their email fraud form right away. Within minutes they responded and said they would check up on it but meanwhile return the $900 to my account. OK. I change my passwords and my secret questions (which they sure didn't use when someone got my $900!) Then I think maybe I should notify the eBay seller who is also out my money, I send him a note that the sale was a fraud, I didn't order a computer and someone was using my account. So he races to the PO and saves his package from being mailed, emails me back that he got it so he isn't out anything- we'll call him, oh I don't know, how about Bernie Martinez!

So I go through Thursday thinking all is well, but go and check my online banking on Friday and lo and behold there is $900 missing two days after Paypal said they would reverse it and I had filed my claim! Naturally it's after banking hours but I call the fraud squad at the bank semi-hysterical, and they are very calming and reassuring and tell me it will be investigated immediately. BUT FIRST have to send me a form to fill out, it has to be returned and then there is a 30 day period to investigate! Meanwhile my money is gone, my Paypal account has been frozen and I can't even shut it down or remove the cards it's linked to. It's a freakiin mess. The only one happy is the eBay seller, Bernie, because I was nice enough to stop him from sending the computer on to the perp. All he has to do is re-list. I can imagine him whistling a happy tune as he sends off another listing.

And today I found out that the buyer, he'll be called GILBERT KETNER here because that's where the computer was being mailed to- an UNconfirmed address in Torrance CA. Well, old Gilbert it seems left this note on Paypal:

" Note: is financially responsible for Sandra Donabed's account and is responding on Sandra Donabed's behalf regarding any issues with this transaction."

Chutzpah. But it's creepy that Paypal would let this go by. Creepier still that they would take my $900 TWO DAYS after I made the claim.

So, on a lighter note, while I was on hold with all these folks today I finally found a camera to replace the one I dropped on the stone floor and lost the LED window. Loved my little point and shoot Canon, but these days I need to ba able to have more control and serious-up my photography so I got a spiffy upgrade to this:

I can still point and shoot my little heart out with the broken camera, will keep it going until I have to carry it's pieces in a baggie. For now a little duct tape is working at keeping the front and back together, but it's hell to remove the battery for a charge.